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Evolution Quotes

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Evolution Quotes

“The anti-evolution forces have been searching for a new strategy that would accomplish the same end. That purpose is, if not to get evolution out of the schools altogether, then at least undermine it as much as possible in the minds of students.”

Ifs Mind Has Beens Ends School Purpose Force Students Evolution Strategy Accomplish

Author:Kenneth R. Miller

“We are coming to a place where the road ends. From here on out, we will be making the road as we walk it, in ways we've never had to do before. We now have the job of forging our own evolutionary destiny, and being prime agents of the process of evolution here on Earth.”

Way Inspirational Ends Earth Jobs Process Walks Destiny Evolution Agents Prime Forging

Author:Tom Atlee

“We started off with physical evolution and got our form. Then we somehow developed language, which meant cultural evolution could race so we could change our behavior really quickly instead of over hundreds and hundreds of years. And then comes moral evolution, which means we're not frightfully far along with people. And maybe we end up with a spiritual evolution, which is this connectedness with the rest of the life forms on the planet.”

People Years Mean Ends Spiritual Form Language Race Moral Planets Evolution Behavior Connectedness Spiritual Evolution

Author:Jane Goodall

“It must be said that today, at the end of its semantic evolution, the word 'terrorist' is an intrinsically propagandistic term. It has no neutral readability. It dispenses with all reasoned examination of political situations, of their causes and consequences.”

Said Ends Today Political Causes Term Situation Evolution Consequence Terrorist Examination

Book:Infinite Thought

Source: Infinite Thought

“The most widely discussed formulation of [the One World model] was the "end of history" thesis advanced by Francis Fukuyama. "We may be witnessing," Fukuyama argued, "the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government." The future will be devoted not to great exhilarating struggles over ideas but rather to resolving mundane economic and technical problems. And, he concluded rather sadly, it will all be rather boring.”

“Fifteen hundred years is ample time in which to lose mutual comprehension. Iceland was colonized by the Norwegians at the end of the ninth century AD. Today's Icelanders, with considerable effort, can understand people from the Scandinavian peninsula, but the Scandinavians hardly understand the Icelanders. A thousand years is the minimum time span for a language to change so much that it becomes incomprehensible.”

“It seems to be overwhelmingly likely that there is life out there and eventually we will make contract. And when contact is made, it will be the end of Earth's cultural evolution. It will be the greatest discovery in the history of humankind.”

Made Ends Seems Earth Evolution Discovery Contact Made It Contracts Humankind

Author:Paul Horowitz

“We're supposed to keep evolving. Evolution did not end with us growing opposable thumbs. You do know that, right?”

Knows Ends Growing Evolution Evolve Thumbs Revolutionary Ideas

Author:Bill Hicks

“The best bands kept making records and had this evolution, where by the end, by their commercial phase or sellout phase, the records are from outer space.”

Ends Space Records Evolution Band Phases Outer Space

Author:Ariel Rechtshaid

“For nearly two centuries, scholars and politicians have debated the future of capitalism. Its critics, most prominent among them Karl Marx, have seen capitalism as intrinsically unstable, full of contradictions that will lead eventually to its collapse. Its supporters see it as the best way to allocate resources and rewards. Some even hint that the democratic capitalistic society is not just a phase in the historical evolution of economic systems but its ultimate end.”

“On all levels, evolution occurs in response to a crisis situation, not infrequently a life-threatening one, when the old structures, inner or outer, are breaking down or are not working anymore. On a personal level, this often means the experience of loss of one kind or another: the death of a loved one, the end of a close relationship, loss of possessions, your home, status, or a breakdown of the external structures of your life that provided a sense of security.”

Kind Mean Ends Home Loss Levels Situation Security Evolution Crisis Structure Response Possession Loved Ones Death Of A Loved One Threatening Breaking Down Breakdown Close Relationship

Author:Eckhart Tolle

“I now believe that evolution, or deevolution, never ends short of death, that no society has ever achieved an absolute pinnacle, that all humans are not created equal. In fact, I believe attempts to create some abstract equalization create a morass of injustices that rebound on the equalizers. Equal justice and equal opportunity are ideals we should seek, but we should recognize that humans administer the ideals and that humans do not have equal ability.”

Should Believe Humans Ends Facts Opportunity I Believe Justice Ability Evolution Equal Ideals Absolutes Injustice Abstract Equal Opportunity Pinnacle Rebound Equalizer Equal Justice

Author:Frank Herbert

“Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS and Wal-Mart have all figured out the evolution of life and they grabbed all the products that are necessary for a life. And they stuck them in one aisle and they put them in order according to how you mess up... First thing you're going to see: condoms. Next to that: lubricant. Next to that: pregnancy test. Next to that: Pampers. Next to that: formula. And at the end of the aisle they sell beer.”

Firsts Ends Order Next Products Evolution Tests Sells Aids Stuck Mess Beer Pregnancy Formulas Rite Aisle Condom Evolution Of Life Pregnancy Test

Author:Gabriel Iglesias

“The masters are men like us who have evolved ahead of us and come to the end of the evolution as a human being on planet earth.”

Men Humans Ends Earth Human Beings Planets Masters Evolution Planet Earth

Author:Benjamin Creme

“In the end, we're just showmen. But, I think that it's an important factor. Not to be anything else but clear about that - for me, creativity is an important part of our evolution. Art has probably done more good for the world than war. But they're equally powerful. They both create revolutions.”

Thinking World Art Important War Ends Done Powerful Creativity Clear Revolution Evolution Factors

Author:Nicolas Winding Refn

“Evolution crawls to imperfection. It ends in extinction.”

Ends Evolution Imperfection Extinction

Author:Gregory Keyes

“All life will die, all mind will cease, and it will all be as if it had never happened. That, to be honest, is the goal to which evolution is traveling, that is the "benevolent" end of the furious living and furious dying.”

Ifs Mind Ends Dies Goal Happened Honest Dying Evolution Cease Being Honest Furious Benevolent

Book:Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain

Source: Incognito: The Secret Lives of The Brain

“I sip my coffee. I look at the mountain, which is still doing its tricks, as you look at a still-beautiful face belonging to a person who was once your lover in another country years ago: with fond nostalgia, and recognition, but no real feelings save a secret astonishment that you are now strangers. Thanks. For the memories. It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from our creator--our very self-consciousness--is also the one thing that divides us from our fellow creatures. It was a bitter birthday present from evolution, cutting us off at both ends.”

Source: PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK

“Folks, it's time to evolve. That's why we're troubled. You know why our institutions are failing us, the church, the state, everything's failing? It's because, um - they're no longer relevant. We're supposed to keep evolving. Evolution did not end with us growing opposable thumbs. You do know that, right?”

Knows Ends States Church Growing Failing Evolution Institutions Folks Evolve Relevant Thumbs Revolutionary Ideas

Author:Bill Hicks

“Love is a trick played on us by the forces of evolution. Pleasure is the bait laid down by the same. There is only power. Power is of the individual mind but the mind's power is not enough. Power of the body decides everything in the end and only might is right.”

Mind Ends Enough Body Might Individual Force Love Is Pleasure Evolution Tricks Bait Might Is Right

Book:THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING

Source: THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING

“And, you know, politics aside, the success of Sarah Palin and women like her is good for all women - except, of course - those who will end up, you know, like, paying for their own rape 'kit 'n' stuff. But for everybody else, it's a win-win. Unless you're a gay woman who wants to marry your partner of 20 years - whatever. But for most women, the success of conservative women is good for all of us. Unless you believe in evolution. You know - actually, I take it back. The whole thing's a disaster.”

Knows Want Years Believe Ends Whole Courses Winning Stuff Evolution Gay Conservative Partners Disaster Womens Rights Palin Like Her Win Win

Author:Tina Fey

“....You should keep dental floss on you at all times; when your eyesight goes, quit driving; don't keep too many secrets, eventually they'll eat away at you. But the most valuable lesson he taught me was this: Every day we get older, and some of us get wiser, but there's no end to our evolution. We are all a mess of contradictions; some of our traits work for us, some against us. And this is what I figured out on my own: Over the course of a lifetime, people change, but not as much as you'd think. Nobody really grows up.”

Source: The Spellmans Strike Again: Document #4

“My fear represented the failure of the human system. It is a sad truth of our creation: Something is amiss in our design, there are loose ends of our psychology that are simply not wrapped up. My fears were the dirty secrets of evolution. They were not provided for, and I was forced to construct elaborate temples to house them.”

Humans Ends House Secret Psychology Design Creation Evolution Dirty Temples Constructs Sad Truth Loose Ends Dirty Secrets

Book:The pleasure of my company

Source: The pleasure of my company

“But the most valuable lesson he taught me was this: Every day we get older, and some of us get wiser, but there's no end to our evolution. We are all a mess of contradictions; some of our traits work for us, some against us.”

Ends Taught Evolution Lessons Valuable Mess Contradiction Traits Wiser Valuable Lessons Dental Floss

Book:The Spellmans Strike Again: Document #4

Source: The Spellmans Strike Again: Document #4

“Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. And a tail is an awkward thing to laugh with, as you can see by the way they bend themselves half double in extreme hilarity trying to get that rear-end exuberance forward into the main scene of action. What puts man on a higher stage of evolution is that he has got his laugh on the right end.”

Men Ends States Happiness Joy Laughing Dog Evolution Higher Laughter Tails

Author:Max Eastman

“Zweck sein selbst ist jegliches Tier. Each animal is an end in itself.”

Ends Animal Evolution

Author:Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“All geologic history is full of the beginning and the ends of species-of their first and last days; but it exhibits no genealogies of development.”

Firsts Ends Lasts Science History Development Evolution Species Extinction Exhibits Last Day Geology Genealogy Firsts And Lasts

Book:The Testimony of the Rocks

Source: The Testimony of the Rocks

“Men are impatient, and for precipitating things; but the Author of Nature appears deliberate throughout His operations, accomplishing His natural ends by slow, successive steps. And there is a plan of things beforehand laid out, which, from the nature of it, requires various systems of means, as well as length of time, in order to the carrying on its several parts into execution.”

Men Wells Mean Ends Science Order Nature Natural Steps Plans Evolution Various Operations Length Execution Deliberate Impatient Carrying On

Book:The Analogy of Religion: Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature. To which are Added, Two Brief Dissertations: I. On Personal Identity. II. On the Nature of Virtue. Together with a Charge Delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Durham, ... in the Year MDCCLI. By Joseph Butler, ... A New Edition, Corrected. With a Preface, ... by Samuel Halifax, ...

Source: The Analogy of Religion: Natural and Revealed, to the Constitution and Course of Nature. To which are Added, Two Brief Dissertations: I. On Personal Identity. II. On the Nature of Virtue. Together with a Charge Delivered to the Clergy of the Diocese of Durham, ... in the Year MDCCLI. By Joseph Butler, ... A New Edition, Corrected. With a Preface, ... by Samuel Halifax, ...

“Seeing this gradation and diversity of structure in one small, intimately related group of birds, one might really fancy that from an original paucity of birds in this archipelago, one species had been taken and modified for different ends.”

Different Ends Might Science Taken Seeing Groups Evolution Diversity Bird Originals Structure Species Related Fancy

Book:On the Origin of Species

Source: On the Origin of Species

“As I have already urged, the practice of that which is ethically best - what we call goodness or virtue - involves a course of conduct which, in all respects, is opposed to that which leads to success in the cosmic struggle for existence. In place of ruthless selfassertion it demands self-restraint; in place of thrusting aside, or treading down, all competitors, it requires that the individual shall not merely respect , but shall help his fellows. It repudiates the gladiatorial theory of existence. Laws and moral precepts are directed to the end of curbing the cosmic process.”

“Man has risen, not fallen. He can choose to develop his capacities as the highest animal and to try to rise still farther, or he can choose otherwise. The choice is his responsibility, and his alone. There is no automatism that will carry him upward without choice or effort and there is no trend solely in the right direction. Evolution has no purpose; man must supply this for himself. The means to gaining right ends involve both organic evolution and human evolution, but human choice as to what are the right ends must be based on human evolution.”

Source: The Meaning of Evolution: A Study of the History of Life and of Its Significance for Man

“On consideration, it is not surprising that Darwin's finches should recognize their own kind primarily by beak characters. The beak is the only prominent specific distinction, and it features conspicuously both in attacking behaviour, when the birds face each other and grip beaks, and also in courtship, when food is passed from the beak of the male to the beak of the female. Hence though the beak differences are primarily correlated with differences in food, secondarily they serve as specific recognition marks, and the birds have evolved behaviour patterns to this end.”

Source: Darwin's Finches

“The succession of individuals, connected by reproduction and belonging to a species, makes it possible for the specific form itself to last for ages. In the end, however, the species is temporary; it has no "eternal life." After existing for a certain period, it either dies or is converted by modification into other forms.”

Life Ends Age Lasts Form Science Certain Dies Individual Existence Evolution Periods Eternal Species Connected Belonging Temporary Eternal Life Succession Reproduction Modification

Book:Wonders of life

Source: Wonders of life

“Nothing is more clear than that Christ cannot be explained by any humanistic system. He does not fit into any theory of natural evolution, for in that case the perfect flower of humanity should have appeared at the end of human history and not in the middle of it.”

Should Humans Doe Ends Christian Humanity Jesus Christ Natural Perfect Cases Clear Middle Flower Theory Evolution Fit Jesus Christ Should Have Human History Humanistic

Author:Loraine Boettner

“Change as change is mere flux and lapse; it insults intelligence. Genuinely to know is to grasp a permanent end that realizes itself through changes.”

Knows Ends Realizing Progress Evolution Mere Permanent Insult Flux Lapses

Book:James and Dewey on Belief and Experience

Source: James and Dewey on Belief and Experience

“The plan of spiritual evolution is marked not only by God's will that we move ever in the direction of love, nut also by another of God's creative principles: that humanity has free will. What that means is that in any given moment, it is our choice whether we move toward love or retreat from it. What is not love is fear. But in the larger scheme of things, there is a limit past which lovelessness cannot remain. Fear is not life-giving enough to sustain itself. We can move in the direction of fear only so long before it brings us to our knees, or to our end.”

“In my view, after fifty years of service in the United National system, I perceive the utmost urgency and absolute necessity for proper Earth government. There is no shadow of a doubt that the present political and economic systems are no longer appropriate and will lead to the end of life evolution on this planet. We must therefore absolutely and urgently look for new ways.”

“Beneath multiple specific and individual distinctions, beneath innumerable and incessant transformations, at the bottom of the circular evolution without beginning or end, there hides a law, a unique nature participated in by all beings, in which this common participation produces a ground of common harmony.”

Ends Law Science Individual Common Produce Evolution Unique Transformation Harmony Bottom Distinction Multiple Participation Incessant Unique Nature

Author:Zhuangzi

“I've got my laptop, but it troubles me in many ways. I don't have Twitter or Facebook or anything like that. It ruins a romantic idea, which might just be an illusion, a sense of depth or continuity. I know there are lots of positives in the evolution of technology, but I also think it will be responsible for the end of a unique character, of a specific kind of geographical culture. The world is getting so small, and mass production is getting so big. Everything is in danger of becoming the same.”

“Asian Homo erectus died without issue and does not enter our immediate ancestry (for we evolved from African populations); Neanderthal people were collateral cousins, perhaps already living in Europe while we emerged in Africa... In other words, we are an improbable and fragile entity, fortunately successful after precarious beginnings as a small population in Africa, not the predictable end result of a global tendency. We are a thing, an item of history, not an embodiment of general principles.”

“If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, and a sign on it saying, "End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE TO NOT TOUCH," the paint wouldn't even have time to dry.”

Ifs World Ends Evolution Please Paint Dry Caves End Of The World Discworld

Author:Joel Garreau